Manufacture of moving-picture films.



C. A. GILBERT. MANUFACTUREOF MOVING PICTURE FILMS. I APPLICATION FILED APR. 20, 1915.

1,279,099 Patentedse mmms. v 3$HEETSSHEET 1.

C. A. GlLBERT. MANUFACTURE OF MOVING PICTURE FILMS.

( APPLICATION FILED APR. 20,1915;

. Patented Sept. 17, 1918.

CHARLES ALLAN GILBERT, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

MANUFACTURE OF MOVING-PICTURE FILMS.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Se t. 17, 1918.

Application filed April 20, 1915. Serial No. 22,556.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, CHARLES ALLAN GIL- BERT, a citizen of the United States, residing at 126 Eighth street, New York, county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in the Manufacture of MovingPicture Films, fully described and represented in the following specification and the accompanying drawings, forming a part of the same. v i

The present invention relates primarily to an improved process for making a moving picture film to show an entire play produced in silhouette.

The process may be practised by certain steps which permit the silhouettes to be oband the film may,

tained without casting shadows of the actors,

a-relation to the actors which could not be secured by photographing any natural obj ects.

In, practising the invention, photographs of actors whether silhouette or shaded, may

and photodrawings upon another moving film, and a composite film obtained by combining the two films together, or printing through both simultaneously upon the working film- This process of producing afilm possesses graphs of l a great advantage, in permitting photographs of moving actors to be asfcociated with a back-ground or scenery, as a forest orbuild1ng,.

actors, "and thus avoid the construction of expensive scenery or thetransportation of the actors to natural scenes of the desired mOasae-size the different Post tionsLa nd changes of such artificial objects.

The invention also includes as a new article of manufactureaa film provided with photographs of silhouettes, also a composite film provlded with photographs of silhoucombined with three successive views of a in addition to the moving fi ir'es of the actors, be provided with scenes' p otographed from drawings, which may be made to exhibit objects in which can be photographed 'fIOIIl small drawings independently ofithe ettes, associated with photographs of drawlugs, also a composite film provided with photographs showing silhouettes of actors photographic silhouettes taken from drawings.

The invention will be understood by reference to the annexed drawing, inwhich Figure 1 is a representation of one view upon a composite moving picture film having scenery and the silhouettes of actors derived from different films;' Fig. 2 shows portion of a film with views of two moving actors; Fig. 3 shows portion of a photographed from a back ground; Fig. 4 shows acomposite film printed from the films of Figs. 2 and 3; Fig. 5i represents moving animal photographed from drawings; Fig. 6 rep resents three successive photographs of a moving actor; Fig. 7 represents three views from a film derived from the photographs of Figs. 5 and 6; Fig. 8 representsa portion of a film with two successive views of a moving actor; of a film with two successive views-of a bird photographed from drawings; Fig. 10 represents two views upon a composite fil m printed from the films of Figs. 8 and 9; Fig. 11 is a view in sequence with the viewsof Fig. 10, and photographed from a drawing representing a scene which could'not exist in reality; Fig. '12 is a front vie-wot a screen and stage with theequipment for photo? graphing silhouettes; and Fig. 13 is a rear View of the attachments for the illuminated screen.

Fig. l represents a single view upon a composite film printed from two other films.

uresB which are shown in silhouette before the buildings, and which are photographed upon a separate moving film; and the view of Fig. 1 is produced by both the films upon the composite working film.

The drawing for the back ground may,

obviously be made of any desired size and the view may be made as elaborate as de- Fig. 9 represents a portion" printing through film having trees sired, and may be made to show the details .of objects as shown in Fig. l; or, if preferredg. may be made in'solid black repreg- E -S ne view upon a partial film taken from two actors c engaged in fencing; Fig. 3 shows one view. upon a partial film, of trees (Z photographed from a drawing upon a scale adapted to cooperate with the the composite film thus I filni photographer views of the actors figures c; and Fig. 4: shows one view from a composite film printed jointly and simultaneously from the films of Figs. 2 and A bird 0 is shown in the views of Figs. 3 and 4, which may be represented as moving by drawing or printing a series of treegroups shown in Fig. 3, with the bird de lineated in successive positions upon the successive views to express its flight across the scene,

To avoid duplicating the drawing of the trees, the bird may be represented of some suitable materialseparate from the drawing of the trees, and moved across such drawing when. the partial film of the trees is made.

Fig. 5 represents three views from a partial film photographed from a series of drawings showing an elephant m in suecessive positions.

Fig. 6 shows three views from a partial and Fig. 7 show three views from a composite film made from the films of Figs. 5 an 6 showingan acting elephant and his ainer. a

Fig. 8 shows'part of a film with two views of a moving actor p and the adjacent spaces vacant; Fig. 9 shows two views of successive positions of a large bird 0 taken from drawings; and Fig. 10 shows two views of a composite film printed from the films of Figs. 8 and 9. Such composite film shows the bird vastly greater than the man, and to produce a further eifect'not obtainable from nature, made is joined to another made wholly from drawings, 1n

which the bird 0, as shown in Fig. 11, is represented as flying away with the man 0.

It is obvious that the invention secures, by very simple means, a composite film displaying in its successive views photographs of moving actors combined with photographs of objects represented in drawings, thus producing many results or effects not attainable in any other Mani-rus The actors and objects representedin/the different figures of the annexeld drawing are most them shown in solid black to represent silhouettes of such actors and objects by illuminating them in the usual manner.

"from a movingaetor m;-

The use of silhouettes has. however, a peculiar interest, as silhouettes produce an ap pearance quite different from that of living actors, because the silhouettes possess no characteristics of life except their more movement.

By also representing silhouettes of a back ground or objects associated with themoving actors. a veryweird and unusual etl'ee' is produced, as of black people moving in a black world. 1

It is well known that silhouettes can be produced by shadows, but that shadows do not exhibit a sharp image unless the object is close to the screen which receives the shadow. and as moving pictures could not be taken of a shadow under such. conditions, I have devised a means of directly photographing the actors, to present the appearance of silhouettes, by having their movements performed in front of an illuminated screen. that is between the screen and the camera, so that the. side of the objects toward the camera is in the dark. but the objects themselves, rather than theirshadows, are photographed. One method of securing this desired effect is to mountan ordinary muslin or linen screen at the back of the stage or platform upon which the actors perform and provide means whereby it is highly illuminated from the back. The front presents a bright, light surface, againstwhich the figures of the actors appear preeisely like shadows but having the same sharpness and distinctness of outline as ordinary film pictures, and possessing a depth of black color not attainable in shadows.

are arranged to give the necessary illumlnation without throwing the screen.

The screen constitutes the front of a species of 'box or small chamber in which the light is confined so as notto produce any lighting effect in front of the screen.

This box is furnished with wooden side wings Z carrying 'kk 'nkso' f' electric lights which operate to illnx'nine the rear side of the screen.

The edges of the\ screen are extended. in opaque" strips Z which join the forward edges of the wooden wings Z and etiec tivly direct rays through confine the strong light to the box; A roof; but the processes described herein are capa-s ble of photographing the actors with detail 'lsoassists to confinethe light. Although. hadowso;f,the actors fall upon the screen": wlth the above arrangement, the relation of so that details on the surface towardthe cated by dotted .lines in 'Fig. '13.

This means of producing silhouettes ob-, viously presents enormous advantages, asit gives .the actors entire freedom of movement without reference to the illuminating agent, which is impossible if actors move be-f tween a light and ascreento cast shadows the actors to onefsid'e ofthe screen is indithereon.

. It also permits the camera to be placed in' any convenient location to photograph the actors, which would not be possibleiwith actors between the screen and the illuminant. By having the camera wlth its eye-piece ap-- proximately on the level of the stage or platform, the upper surface of said stage or platform will not appear in' the photograph. 7 Therefore, I v lower portion ofobjects on'th-e platform will '20 the feet of the actors and the appear as clear and distinctwhen the actors are up-stage as when they are back close to the screen. .As the pictures are in solid color camera do not show, an objector an actor I Such process of photographing-moving actors would operate the same Whether the actors were blackened or not, and a drawn may bemade to apparently change in size by moving toward or from the camera.

back-ground could thus be combined with moving actors without having the actors in silhouette.

The lower parts of the drawing would be left white, so that lines would not show through in combining the partial films.

As the apparatus for taking moving pic-' tures in resemblance of silhouettes is required to practice my invention, I have made claim to the same herein.

It is evident that by the means described herein silhouettes may be produced with a light bod] as well as with a black body, and that the b ack ground in such case could be black orpcolored instead of White, and the drawings to combine with such silhouette could be made with similar characteristics so that the moving pictures thrown upon the screen would appear as white actors or white objects-moving before a blackor colored back ground.

.The term silhouettes, where 'used in the claims, is therefore to be understood as meaning the body ofa moving actor, or any -be shown with white objects represe Where the photographs on the film depict white objects upon a black back ground it is;

evident that the pictures and back ground would be the reverse of those produced in photographing black figures upon a white back ground, and the film could therefore be used directly for projecting the moving pictures instead of in the usual manner as a negative; Y

Where white silhouettes of actors are to ted in drawings, the combination of such silhouettes with the drawings of objects can also be effected in the same manner as when black silhouettes and black objects are photographed upon the moving film.

Having thus set forth'the nature of the invention what is claimed herein is:

1. A process of producing moving picturev films which consists in photographing mov-.

ing actors in silhouette on one negative film,

photographing a series of drawings show-- mg an object in successive positions and in silhouette on another negative film, and producing a positive film from both of said i negative films with silhouettes of the actors and of the drawn objects in predetermined relative positions .to form a series of com-' posite film pictures in silhouette. I

' 2.. A process of producing movingpicture films which consists in photographing on one negative film moving actors in solid black against an illuminated background, photographing on another negative film a series of drawings .in solid black on a light background each showing an' imaginary object but in a slightly altered position from that of the preceding drawing, and producing a positive film from both ofsaid negative films and with the silhouettes of the actors and the-drawn pictures-of the imaginary objects in predetermined relative positions to form a series of film pictures all of the figures of which are in solid C0101; 4

3.. A process of producing moving p'ic tures each showing in solid color on a light background both 'a real animated and an imaginary. movingobject, said process 1neluding photographing on one film said real animate object in solid black againstan illuminated background, photographlng on another film a series of drawings each showing the same object in successive positions, and utilizing said first and second mentioned films to produce by printing a third'film showing aseries of film pictures each in cluding solid color representations of said real and said imaginary objects in predeterminedrelative positions.

'-In-testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

CHARLES ALLAN ILBERT. 

